What I'm Grateful For This Week

life with fingerprints

I am grateful for puppies that play at my feet. I am grateful for puppies that tear apart foam balls, scattering bits of lime green and bright orange across a new apartment. I am grateful for puppies that are learning to share: toys, treats, sofa time, and mommy and dad's attention. I am grateful for a little black dog that is slowly teaching a dumb, stubby-legged pup to remember that she is the boss. 

I am grateful for a man that makes tea and builds forts and lets me poke him in the face and reminds me not to stomp and changes his voice for me and let me put my wand on his nerd shelf. 

I am grateful for wind that pinches pink into my cheeks and sun that sprinkles itself across still water, dancing upon the surface just for me. I am grateful for leaves that refuse to fall and petals that continue to bloom and a winter that won't make up its mind. I am thankful for snowballs and rain puddles and driving with my windows down. 

I am grateful for red lipstick and wicker baskets and a dog crate that is my saving grace. I am grateful for new washing machines and big porches and empty ashtrays and neighbors that sing at the top of their lungs. I am thankful for books and family dinners and birthdays. 

I am grateful for words. New words. Old words. Words that wrap around me in the dark. Words I can't define. Words next to words next to words next to phrases that make sentences. I am grateful for words on lined paper. I am grateful for the curves of B's and the loops of e's and the way my pen sounds scratching away. 

I am grateful for a goodbye that came from a sloppy lick hello.  I am grateful for a dog with a nub for a tail. I'm grateful for eyes that slowly lost me but still felt the light from my fingertips reaching to get tangled in soft auburn fur. I am grateful for a puppy that hid under the car. I am grateful for a puppy that came home with me in that car and spent eight years growing up with me in that car. I am grateful for a little white dog and a moody, old cat left at home alone. 

I am grateful for bookcases and two stars and a nebula.